Tag: Jens Pulver

At WEC 47‘s post-event press conference, MMA legend Jens Pulver discussed the pride he feels in watching the lighter weight-divisions develop into popular, exciting products — even if the level of competition in those divisions has officially passed him by. "I’m just a proud old man," Pulver said. "I’m a proud poppa, I guess, I’m the godfather of this stuff, and it’s a good place and a good way to go." The younger fighters in attendance took some time to talk about what Jens meant to them as featherweights and bantamweights following the trail that Lil’ Evil blazed…

Scott Jorgensen: "Jens is one of the guys that kind of got me interested in MMA as an actual sport that I could compete in…The guy’s the greatest guy ever. He’s sincere, he’s from the heart, what he says he means. I don’t have a bad word to say about him, he’s the best, man. I wouldn’t be where I’m at today without people like Jens."

(Looks like someone deserves a lollipop for being such a brave boy. Photo courtesy of Brian Bowles‘s Twitter.)

Fans were treated to a night of upsets at WEC 47, as favorites Brian Bowles and Miguel Torres both went down to unceremonious defeats in Columbus, Ohio. As you see in the above photo, Bowles wasn’t kidding about that injured hand. He claims to have broken it on the very first punch he landed, which then threw his whole game off and eventually prompted him to relinquish his title when he couldn’t continue past round two. That makes Dominick Cruz your new 135-pound champ, and the way the title’s been bouncing around lately he better get all the enjoyment he can out of it while it lasts.

Attention MMA FightPicker players: WEC 47 goes down tomorrow, which means it’s time to get off your lazy asses and make some predictions. As we do every time there’s a notable MMA event over the weekend, BF and I decided to join the same FightPicker pool in order to compete in an absolutely meaningless pissing-contest over bragging rights. But as soon as we entered Contender Pool 10 #635, we knew that this week wouldn’t be like all the others. Right there at the bottom of the player’s list was Aaron Rampey, FightPicker’s capo di tutti capi. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, since Aaron is entering pretty much every pool at this point, but the stakes just got a little higher. Will the Bens be able to outgun FightPicker’s point-leader and creep up the rankings themselves? Will it matter, since Rampey has probably learned how to game the system by hedging bets over multiple pools? Be sure to check back in on Monday to see how it all plays out, and read on to see our picks for this week…

Brian Bowles vs. Dominick Cruz @ WEC 47: Who will win? BG: Bowles. Cruz is a very worthy challenger, but Bowles has been so dominant in his WEC career that there’s really no reason to bet against him. BF: Agreed. There’s just no way I can go against Bowles, who reminds me of a grown-up Dennis the Menace, only heavy on the menace.

Will Bowles vs. Cruz make it to round 3? BG: That’s a tough one. Bowles usually doesn’t need more than two rounds, and Cruz has gone to the cards in his last four. But I have to assume that Bowles will impose his will and blow Cruz out like everybody else he’s faced. BF: Honestly, I’ll be surprised if it makes it to round 2. I think we’re looking at about 3-4 minutes of action, much like your wedding night, BG, only with less sobbing.

If there’s any MMA fighter who deserves to have a documentary made about him it’s Jens Pulver, who survived a profoundly abusive childhood and went on to become the UFC’s first 155-pound champion, but now faces his last ride after losing four straight fights in the WEC. The above clip is from a work-in-progress called Driven by filmmaker Gregory Bayne. If you watch it, you’ll most likely have a strong urge to see the whole thing. There’s one small problem: It’s not even close to finished, and Bayne needs funding to keep working on it. As he explains on Kickstarter.com:

Jens is set to fight on March 6, 2010 in Columbus, Ohio. To insure that I can film the entire lead up to the fight, (his training, his day to day family life, any wrenches that get thrown into the mix), and join Jens in Ohio, I am seeking to raise $25,000 in just 20 days. These funds will be used to secure the gear we need for production (Additional HD Camera, lighting, and sound recording equipment), and to hire an additional cameraman and sound mixer, as well as to cover insurance costs, and all the costs of (transportation, lodging, etc.) associated with bringing the crew to the fight in Ohio. While this doesn’t represent the entire scope or budget of the film, it is the most pressing financial need as I hope to capture this story as it unfolds.

Right now, supporters have pledged $1,045 of the $25,000 goal, with just 16 days until the deadline. So if you have any charity-money left after giving your life savings to Wyclef Jean, click on this link to read more about the project — and what each level of donation will get you in return — and hit that green "Back This Project" box to toss in a few bucks. Every little bit helps.

You actually asked not to know? Not until they really have to tell me. Who cares who I’m fighting? Opponents don’t beat me, I’m beating me. You’ve got all these guys saying I’m getting punchy. I got hit on the head against Leonard but the other two of my last three losses were chokes. With Faber I ate everything, Lauzon clipped me on the chin. I’ve never been knocked out to the point of four minutes later they are waking me up and I’m trying to figure out what happened, saying ‘shit, what happened?’ I’ve been clipped. I might get punchy at some point but come on, it’s not happening now. Let me get mine. What fucking part of guillotine chokes don’t people understand? I appreciate their concern all the same but people don’t pay attention. Where does most of the damage fighters take come from? Not from fights but from when we are sparring with pillows on our hands and we take hours of brain rattling. Fights are five to twenty five minutes long; the brain damage comes from sparring. You don’t ever hear people saying we should quit sparring. So I’m not really worried about who I’m fighting. I’m fighting me right now. I’m fighting against myself, trying to be the old me. I’m trying to beat myself.

You’re talking about the old vs. new you. I’m not talking about the young bullet-proof me. I’m talking about the middle me that has gotten his ass handed to him. I don’t complain to people, I don’t bitch about income. Of how there are all these other guys who have made a lot of money. Maybe I’m not that savvy with business. I’ve had a rebirth with meeting my wife, having my son and my daughter getting older. The biggest thing for me was how we moved training camps, finally. This one in Boise, I’ve designed. You can see it at DrivenTC.com. Just little things with this gym are going to make a lot of difference for me, I can’t even tell you. Our supposed great leader back in Iowa who didn’t even have a boxing ring or a cage — what kind of people fight in MMA and have never even sparred or trained in a cage? I’ve brought in Tony Fryklund and all positives happen with him around. That right there is leaps and bounds better.

In an interview done with Steve Cofield yesterday, Jens Pulver warned his longtime friend and Miletich teammate Tim Sylvia that boxing is a different world from MMA, and he might be setting himself up for another career setback if he’s not taking Ray Mercer seriously. "I love [Sylvia] on a personal scale," Pulver said, "[but] professionally, sometimes you gotta step back and say ‘damn Tim, what are you doing?’"

Gash of the year, right there; props to Bloody Elbow for the tip. Video of the Jose Aldo flying knee that gave him that cut is below, and some more WEC 41 fights are after the jump in case you missed the show on Sunday.

I know we say this almost every time there’s a WEC show — but how insane was that card last night? The main event rematch between featherweight champ Mike Brown and Urijah Faber became the latest Legendary WEC Title Fight, with the two best 145-pounders in the world slugging it out for all 25 minutes. Though every round was close, Brown got the edge from the judges thanks to his consistent takedowns and submission attempts. But who knows what would have happened if Faber didn’t break his right hand in the first round? The California Kid showed a tremendous display of guts in pushing through the pain; instead of punching with the busted paw, Faber switched to standing elbows, which turned out to be surprisingly effective. Still, the champ took everything Faber dished out, and aside from a couple of close guillotine attempts from the hometown hero, Brown steadily pushed the pace, ground down the challenger, and stayed out of trouble.

Faber’s loss may not be enough to drop him from the #2-spot in the featherweight rankings, especially when you take his injury into account. Brown and Faber have become the Federer and Nadal of the WEC — they should just keep fighting every year, no matter what the score is.

(The fact that Faber got KTFO’d by Brown last time just means he’s due for a win, right? Photo courtesy of ESPN.)

If Saturday’s Strikeforce matchups seem a little too unpredictable for you to throw some money down, may we suggest taking your mortgage payment disposable entertainment income and wagering it on Sunday’s WEC event instead? There might be some "sure things" to be found here — and when you bet on smaller fighters, they appreciate it more. Check out these odds from our new friends at MMA Moneyline and let’s see if we can’t get daddy his proverbial new pair of shoes: